


A taste of home

by AwkwardTiming



Series: Thankful Story & Outtakes [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Jack Snowy and Flower with the assist, M/M, Tater and Bitty cooking, Vareniki, pierogi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 22:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8641309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardTiming/pseuds/AwkwardTiming
Summary: a sort of outtake related to the first story in the series - upshot of which is that Jack asks his neighbor to help him cook and in turn Bitty meets some of the Falconers.
Bitty and Tater, with the help of Jack and a couple other Falconers make vareniki (pierogi), play MarioCart, eat chili, and have a good time together





	

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so. There's a note at the end of part one about me expanding this story. It's happening, but I really wanted to write a couple of side stories in this AU, so I've turned it into a series that I can update as needed. There's at least one other piece that will be happening.
> 
> OH! And, the pierogi recipe really does work. I mean, my family calls them pedoheh. If you want to try them yourself and have questions about how to do it or quantities or whatever - email me! awkwardtiming@gmail.com (I'm also on tumblr with the same name, but honestly email's prolly easier for a recipe. You do you tho.)

Eric was just getting out of the shower when Jack’s text came through, saying that he and Tater were on their way and that Snowy and Flower had invited themselves along and asking if that was ok.

Eric typed out a quick _of course_ and hurried into his bedroom, throwing on the jeans and t-shirt he’d left out. He’d made chicken chili, thinking that they’d make the dough for the pierogi, then eat lunch together while the dough rested. There was plenty, but with a couple extra hockey players, a salad wouldn’t go amiss. And maybe some corn bread. It wouldn’t be ready exactly when they got there, but close.

When he heard Jack’s knock on the door, he called out for him to come on in and there was a sudden flood of masculine voices talking about plays and who pushed who during sprints and then Tater was there, leaning over the stove and smelling the pot of chili.

“I am thinking we are making vareniki. What is this?” Tater said on the end of a deep inhale.

“Chili. I thought y’all might be hungry after practice and they’ll take a couple hours.”

“Dude, do I smell corn bread?”

Bitty turned and smiled, “Yup. Should be done in a few. There’s a salad, too. Jack, honey, can you get out bowls and spoons and whatnot. Y’all can eat while I make the dough for later. It needs to rest for an hour.”

“You are wanting help?” Tater asked.

Bitty shook his head. “Nah, just watch me and let me know if I’m not doing something your mama would do.”

Tater nodded seriously and Bitty stepped aside after pulling the cornbread out of the oven to make room for Jack and his teammates to grab their lunches. Jack was at the end and stopped next to Bitty before getting his food, resting his hand softly on Bitty’s lower back.

“Don’t you need to eat?” Jack asked.

“I will, but I want to make the dough first.” He smiled, “Plus, y’all just came from practice while I just got done taking a shower. You’re hungrier than I am.”

Jack smiled and moved to serve himself. Once his kitchen was clear, Eric tidied up a work space for himself and measured out his ingredients.

“You are saving the water from the potatoes. Is good.”

Eric smiled, “Yeah. I was reading up on how to make these. It makes sense, though. The starch in the water would make a difference in the texture.”

That captured Snowy’s attention, “Texture of what?”

“The dough for the pierogi?” Bitty asked, confused.

“Is that what you’re making? Dude. Awesome,” Flower said, looking with interest at the things sitting out on the counter.

Bitty’s head tilted, “So, wait. If you didn’t know what we were making…”

“Bro, I just figured if you were cooking I wanted to be here to eat it.”

There was a bit of a giggle that slipped out at that before Bitty was full-on laughing. “Lord. Y’all are funny. Ok. So. We’re making pierogi – well, most recipes call them that. Tater calls them varenki. Pierogi is the polish name, but the recipe the Russians use is actually more closely related to varenyky or pyrohy which is Ukranian. Jack, actually – Canadian Ukranians are especially likely to call them pyrohy.”

“Did you research this recipe?” Jack asked.

Eric shrugged, “Sort of? Katya made them a couple of times and I did a project on immigrant food when I was in college. I had a friend whose grandmother was Ukranian and they called them pedoheh – well, that’s what it sounded like to me anyway. I wanted to look up a couple recipes and check techniques. Tater’s mama sent me her recipe and it made me smile – she specifically says not to use an egg in the dough, no matter what anyone says. Makes it tough.”

“Da. Is true. Very chewy that way,” Tater confirmed, nodding his head.

“Ok, so what are you doing?”

“Ok. So, back on the stove I have the filling. It’s mashed potatoes with cheddar. Tater, your mama said to cook the onion in the potato, but some recipes had me shredding it in raw. I did neither. I sautéed the onion in some butter and added it once the onion was soft and a little sweet, but not disintegrated.”

Tater made a noise of interest. “Sounds good. I tell Mama.”

“I also have some onions simmering in butter back there for the topping later. Anyway, so I saved the water from boiling the potatoes to add to the dough. For the dough, I have five cups of flour, two cups of potato water, half a teaspoon of baking powder, and quarter cup of vegetable oil. Oh, and a bit of salt for taste.” Bitty indicated what he was grabbing as he dumped everything into a large mixing bowl before beginning to work the dough with this hands.

Once it was in a ball and his hand was mostly free of it, he turned it out onto a lightly floured surface and began to knead. “So, once everything is mixed together, you knead the dough, then it needs to sit for an hour or so.” Bitty looked up to find Jack staring at him intensely and felt himself blush, only to redden further when he hear Snowy start to hassle Jack about Jack getting turned on by  his boyfriend kneading dough.

In the back of his mind, Bitty had wondered if Jack had cleared things up with his team. He tried not to let himself get caught up in the idea of what it might be like if they were actually dating. He hadn’t seen Jack much since October, but when they were together it seemed like maybe, just maybe, he might be interested in Bitty. Bitty bit at the corner of his mouth as he kneaded the dough into submission, rolling it into a ball as it reached that very zen place of perfectly elastic. He dropped it back into the mixing bowl and covered it with a silicone lid, then slid it to the side.

He washed his hands quickly and grabbed a bowl for himself, filling it with chili, but skipping both the bread and the salad. He turned around to face the four again, leaning against the counter as he began to eat. Snowy came in for seconds, followed by Tater and Flower. Jack leaned back in his chair, sending a smile Bitty’s way and mouthing _thank you_. Bitty just smiled in return.

By the time they were done eating, another half-hour had passed. Bitty offered, and was taken up on, coffee, so he made a pot and pulled out a container of cookies he had made. Explaining, “I was trying to come up with something that would be a treat for you, Mr. Zimmerman, but that wouldn’t completely ruin your diet. So. These are oatmeal, walnut, and dried cranberry. Instead of sugar I used some homemade apple butter that I didn’t add sugar to, which also replaces the butter.”

The cookies were met with whole-hearted approval and Jack suggested that Bitty send the recipe to their nutritionist, who might have additional suggestions on how to add extra protein to these to make them an even better snack option. Bitty shook his head, but smiled and said he would.

When he checked it, the dough was ready, so Bitty asked that they all clear their places and handed a sponge over to Tater to wipe off the counter and asked Jack to put some filling to bowls for each of them.

Bitty rolled out the bit of dough he’d cut off the larger ball, then cut small circles out of the dough. He talked them through putting a bit of filling in the center then carefully stretching the edges before pinching them closed and using a bit of flour to dust the surface before putting them on the wax paper lined trays. Bitty worked on cutting out the circles while Jack, Tater, Flower, and Snowy filled them. He switched out trays as the filled, putting the finished ones in the freezer. He planned to cook the final tray that evening for whoever stayed for dinner, but the rest could be frozen and sent home with Tater and anyone Tater felt like sharing with.

While they worked, they chatted about the upcoming games and holidays. As neared the end, the conversation turned to video games and the suggestion was made that they head over to Jack’s when they were done and so that they could play MarioCart until it was time for dinner. Jack agreed and Bitty took over for Snowy so that he and Flower could make a quick beer run. In short order, the four were shouting at the screen and each other and Bitty couldn’t help but think he hadn’t had quite so much fun in a long time.

He loved his job, really. He got to cook and had complete control of his schedule, but he’d moved after graduation, as had many of his friends, and working from home meant he hadn’t made many new friends in his town. After the October Thanksgiving with Jack, Lardo and Shitty had taken him a bit more under their wings, but they had busy lives of their own.

Around 6, Bitty stood and asked Jack if he’d picked up the sausages. Tater confirmed it and the five made their way back to Bitty’s apartment where he set Snowy, Flower, and Jack to the task of grilling the sausages and claimed Tater’s help in the kitchen with the pierogi.

This didn’t last too long. Tater, as it turned out, was graceful on ice and relatively gentle in filling the dough, but entirely too rough when it came to dropping and retrieving the potato filled dumplings from their salty bath. So Bitty, with a laugh, send Tater out to join his teammates and Tater sent Jack back in to help. Jack and Bitty worked in easy silence, dropping the dumplings in small batches, watching them rise to the surface, waiting 7 minutes, then pulling. Jack got very good at tossing them in the butter to keep them from sticking and Bitty tried hard not to watch the play of muscles under Jack’s tshirt sleeves as he did it.

Sausages done and pierogi cooked, they gathered at Bitty’s table. Jack had gone back to his apartment briefly to grab the remaining beer and they took their time with the meal.

“Is very good, Bitty. I will tell Mama she should be glad of sharing recipe with you.”

“Thanks, Tater. I’m glad you like them.”

After they ate, Tater suggested watching a movie they’d talked about earlier and everyone piled into Bitty’s living room. Tater and Snowy took the couch, Jack one chair, and Flower the other. Bitty hovered for a moment, debating between sitting on the floor or grabbing an extra chair from his office.

“Look, not saying you have to, but you two have been super careful all day. We aren’t going to be offended or whatever if you cuddle during the movie. Just, you know, maybe keep the making out PG.”

Bitty flushed bright red, “Uh.”

Jack choked out a laugh. “Um.” He held his arms open. Bitty shook his head and walked to where Jack was, but opted to sit on the floor in front of Jack’s chair instead. Twenty minutes in, he felt Jack shift behind him and prepared to scoot away about, but instead Jack’s hands came down on his shoulders, beginning to massage at the knots formed by, well, honestly formed mostly by the way Bitty’s slept the night before.

Jack leaned down to whisper in Bitty’s ear, “Ok?”

Bitty hummed an affirmative and let his eyes drift closed. He dozed unintentionally as the movie played, half-noticing when Jack moved to sit behind him instead. As the movie ended, Jack nudged Bitty to wake him up, then shifted back into the chair. Bitty stretched and stood, wandering into the kitchen for a glass of water. As he returned, Tater, Snowy, and Flower were standing, bidding Jack goodbye. Tater gave Bitty a tight hug, reiterating his earlier appreciation for taking the time to make a much-loved recipe for him.

“Is reminding me of home. You are good friend. I can get you tickets to game. Like Jack gets you tickets for making food we can eat for his Thanksgiving.”

Snowy clapped Tater on the shoulder, “I’m sure Jack’s happy to get Eric any tickets he wants, buddy.” Then, looking to Bitty, “But seriously, you need tickets, let us know. And thanks for letting me invite myself along today. Cooking lesson with you was cool.”

“Thanks to y’all for coming. Tater, don’t forget to grab the rest from the freezer. Let me know if you think of anything I need to change for next time!”

He gave them each another quick hug. As the door closed behind his teammates, Jack turned to Bitty. “Thank you for that. I think that’s the most relaxed I’ve seen Tater in a while.”

“Of course, honey. It was fun to try that new recipe. I’ve got a couple things I want to try with it after doing the research for today.”

Jack just shook his head and looked like he was going to say something before clapping a hand to Bitty’s shoulder. “Well, thanks anyway. I’ll, um, go. Unless you need help cleaning?” Bitty shook his head. “Ok, well. Have a good night.”

Bitty watched Jack let himself out and shook his head, murmuring, “That boy,” to himself as he shut off the lights and made his way back to bed.


End file.
